Monday, November 15, 2010

The Defining Characterisitics of Fascism

Dr. Lawrence Britt examined various fascist regimes in recent history around the world such as of Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy, Franco's Spain, Suharto's Indonesia, and several other, lesser known Latin American regimes. From this examination, he came up with 14 defining characteristics (illustrated above) that make up a Fascist regime.

Are we there yet? Here's the explanations Britt offered for each point:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

This one is obvious...check.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

Bush gave us both Patriot Acts, and Obama affirmed them and even added the power to assassinate American citizens abroad. Check.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

There's a difference nowadays, as many of the communists, socialists and liberals in this country are every bit the fascists of today. Perhaps Dr. Britt is another one of those who believes that Fascism is a right-wing ideology. Fascist regime use the left-right dialectic to maintain it's control over a divided populace. The Democrat liberals, communists and socialists in America today are just as fascist as the neo-cons, fundamentalist, capitalist Republicans.

4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread
domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

Check.

5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

Ok, I suspected that Britt is/was a leftist...and this feminist talking points confirms it. However, he's not necessarily wrong here either. The traditional fascist regimes he studied - especially Germany, Italy and Spain - all had a racial component involved. As the leaders of those regimes who governed their respective countries, they definitely promoted "rigid traditional gender roles." This is because they were advocating nationalism to largely heterogeneous nations. Breed more Germans for Germany...more Italians for Italy...more Spaniards for Spain.

Our modern, 21st century Fascist America certainly has it's own rampant sexism - and it's the precise opposite of what Britt describes. The government of our fascist nation is exclusively FEMINIST dominated. It's an exercise in idiocy to simply look at the gender of a nation's leaders and declare them to be "MALE" or "FEMALE" dominated. No, look at what laws are enacted, what policies are promoted, and for whom they benefit. Our current Fascist regime is definitely feminist dominated...and the sexism they promote is one in which traditional gender roles have been largely overturned and rendered obsolete. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are celebrated and promoted, and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the FEMINIST institution...the single mother household.

Since Britt is obviously a leftist, I'm sure he assumes that most people read "Sexism" and think of misogynistic men abusing and exploiting the womynz by keeping them barefoot and pregnant in the kitchens making sammiches.

Ahhh, but the rampant sexism of today is really the misandrist feminists and manginas who exploit the menz by keeping them in forced labor for child support, alimony, and ever-increasing taxes to pay for wealth redistribution schemes to subsidize the single mother household.

6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

Have you had the opportunity yet to make your latest choice in the name of National Security? Did you choose radiation or sex assault?

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

Of course, while the corporate mass media and public schools all brainwash the masses to think that we live in a country for which the separation of church and state is one of the greatest indicators of freedom..what we really have is a Government intertwined with the secular-humanist-liberal religion. The rhetoric, terminology used to manipulate the public opinion are all based on globalist, communitarian, sustainable, equal and multi-cultural. Instead of exhorting the masses to think "What Would Jesus Do?," the mantra is now anything found at Stuff White People Like.

9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

In my opinion, this is the most significant characteristic of a fascist regime. It actually works in precise conjunction with no. 13, Rampant Cronyism and Corruption. Corporate power is protected, because the corporate interest are the very power that is behind the cronyism and corruption.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

More evidence that Britt is a leftist incapable of seeing how the left-right divide is effectively used by the fascist regime. Labor unions are no threat to our current fascist government. They've been harnessed quite effectively to keep the masses of unionized workers firmly stuck in their socio-economic class and easily exploited by the Corporations.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

Not in 2010. The intellectuals and the arts of academia are now bastions of fascism. Of course, they don't think so...it's because they are thoroughly entrenched in the left side of the dialectic, they think they are opposing fascism...unknowingly contributing their part as useful idiots in implementing the goals of the fascist state.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

Under the guise of wars on terror and wars on drugs, we've now almost completely militarized our nation's police forces and have allowed them to violate the Constitutional rights of the citizenry at will.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

This one and number 9 need to be numbers one and number two on this list. Check.

14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

Check.

So of the 14 characteristics of a Fascist nation, I think it's safe to say, America (and the rest of the Western Countries) has been subverted and converted into a Fascist state.

15 comments:

"The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated"

Sure, the Euro variant of fascism may be this way. But the face of a fascist state varies by the people in it. Spainish fascism looked different from Italian fascsim which was in turn different from German fascism. Each variant of fascism expressed the characteristics of the culture that embraced it. What would American fascism look like? Jonah Goldberg already told us...smiley face fascism. The fascism of the feminine.

"a Government intertwined with the secular-humanist-liberal religion"

Yes.

One point that Goldberg aptly made was how America was really the first fascist country...during the Wilson administration.

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

This one is obvious...check.

It is? The Leftist political class that runs this country hates American nationalism and has done everything it can to destroy the American nation. It is only the proles who constantly display the American flag (which Bambi ostentatiously refuses to wear!) and show any overt nationalism.

4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespreaddomestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

Again, the Leftist political class that runs this country hates the US military. And what is a "disproportionate" amount of funding, anyway? The military is not the reason the US government is broke -- it is precisely spending on those "domestic problems" that are the problem.

5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated.

As was also true of the USSR, PRC, Cuba, and other Communist regimes.

7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

The most national security obsessed regime EVER was... the Communist USSR.

9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

As if the USSR and PRC did not have (and in the PRC case, does not have) a privileged industrial elite.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption

Hahahaha, again, the USSR was fascist under this definition.

Anyway, not to belabor the point, but pretty much all of those applied to Communist regimes... but this guy Britt probably didn't even see it.

You may want to bear in mind that some of these things are goods raised higher in the hierarchy of goods than they should be: love of country is a good; excessive patriotism is not; nor is it proper to use patriotism as a cover for evil.

And remember fascism/socialism/progressivism uses good, or a portion of the truth, to accomplish evil: coming as a savior for labor when, in fact, corporate or state power is the real goal.

Great analysis, HL. Britt's initial analysis certainly has much commendable, but indeed, he sees through a leftist, feminist lens and so not clearly.

njartist: Some draw a distinction between patriotism and nationalism, saying the former refers to merely love of country, while the latter refers to wishing to see one's country strong and powerful, i.e. wielding power over other countries; going to war with them, taking them over, turning them into states with puppet regimes, etc.

So someone who loves his country is a patriot, whereas someone who wishes to see his country take over other countries, or install governments that go along with one's country's government, is a nationalist.

It indeed can be difficult to tell the two apart, though sometimes it will show.

I think some of that "Powerful and Continuing Nationalism" is really more corporatism. The wars are not really about national honor but about profit for suppliers.

Actually, I think that many of the United States' ills come back to the rise of corporate power. Corporations are large bureaucracies and thus act much like large governments.

Of course, we must be clear that suspicion of corporate power does not necessarily mean hostility towards capitalism in a broader sense. I think many on the right confuse pro-market and pro-freedom with pro-corporate. Many on the left assume that their suspicion of corporate power must lead to hostility towards free markets in general.

I don't romanticize small business (I have worked for and been a customer) but realize that large transnational organizations will by nature not have loyalty to place. Large organizations lose the personal accountability that might keep smaller concerns from expressing their most sociopathic character (and yes, I do believe that many large corporations are indeed sociopathic – unable to see beyond the changes to their bottom line, manipulative, and dishonest).[Think of all the gotchas in credit card, phone, and other contracts; think of changing and complex pricing schemes; think of the shrinking pack size (a pint becomes 400ml but with the same price but no warning).]

Default User: You bring up the issue of pint size shrinkage, and that reminds me about something I've always wondered about: why did U.S. pints, quarts and gallons, become smaller than the (British) Imperial pints, quarts and gallons? A British gallon is 160 oz, and so a British quart is 40 oz, and a British pint is 20 oz, whereas an American gallon is only 128 oz, so an American quart is 32 oz, and an American pint is 16 oz. I've never heard why the change happened; I've wondered if it was simply a case of greedy merchants deciding to stiff their customers, by using their clout to have the government redefine the size of measures, in their favour. If so, then of course, merchant / corporate manipulation of the U.S. government goes back to the very earliest days. (Though I still agree that smaller businesses have more connection to their community, and are more accountable, etc., compared to larger, esp. transnational, corporations.)

I think there's a bit of confusion here. Leftist are very much fascists by this definition. The disconnect being experienced is over the words: Military, Nationalism and Human rights.

For American leftists their Military is cops, bureaucrats and lawyers. These are their tools of destruction. Check out Waco Texas as a good example of a leftist military attack.

Nationalism for a leftist is allegiance to leftists goals and propaganda. It's about talking about green jobs, global warming, and how evil whites discriminate against poor minorities. People who deviate from these stated principles are generally outcast, unable to find work in their given fields and have smear campaigns run against them. They don't talk about their homeland, rather they talk about how the progressive agenda is the source of all good in the world.

Human rights are only for leftists and their pet groups. Let a muslin in New York scream how all Americans must die and burns a bible and Leftists will jump to defend his freedom of speech. An american preacher goes to publicly burn a Quran had he has the FBI threating him with jail time, the local bank pull his mortgage, and leftists demanding everywhere that he be arrested to prevent his exercise of free speech.

Of course we live in a fascist nation. It's just one that's mastered Orwellian double speak to an astounding degree. We are bombarded by propaganda everyday and we don't even realize it.

I love this post. You’ve outlined exactly what I’ve been noticing which is that the Left and the Right play off each other to garner more and more control of the bleating sheep and erode civil rights. The left gains power and pushes through regulations and taxation “to help the disadvantaged” but that mainly burden small enterprises making it harder to compete with big business. The right rails on this but when it gains power, does nothing to fix the mistakes, enacts its own tax measures that mainly benefit big business and increases police powers to deal with “lawlessness” in terms of the increased regulations. The left gets into power again… and so on. We are being bludgeoned to death by both sides until there will be nowhere left to stand in the middle.Title IX. Come on, “Nationwide, only 41 percent of all high school athletes are girls, even though they make up half the student population. That means schools are giving girls 1.3 million fewer opportunities than boys to play sports nationwide” REALLY? http://www.nwlc.org/press-release/center-files-title-ix-complaints-against-12-school-districts

You want to know where it starts to get scary? The place where Bobby Fisher got his start has been taken over by militant police. How’s a little 2, 3, 5, 7, 11 and 12 for you in one fell swoop? http://www.dnainfo.com/20101117/washington-heights-inwood/chess-players-ticketed-by-nypd-for-using-inwood-hill-park-chess-tables.

I think there is a great deal of disdain for real Intellectuals and real Arts. But the entrenced leftists who call themselves Intellectuals and Artists are fakes. The crap that gets passed off as high art these days is astonishing in the lack of skill or insight it displays. Real artists - those who have mastered the skills needed to create something pleasing, are looked down upon by their agnst-ridden "betters."

And as far as the Intellectuals in academia today, well, it's not about intelligence, it's pure credentialism.

The story has some reference to the benefits of low-carb diet, but then (bafflingly) talks about carbs being necessary. How do you reconcile the following two paragraphs?

They tested five diets and found that the most effective was a high-protein, low Glycaemic Index regime, which includes lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, pulses and nuts.

It is based on carbohydrates with a low GI, such as wholegrain bread, porridge and brown rice. These break down slowly during digestion, making dieters feel fuller for longer and stabilising blood sugar levels.

Eat meat, poultry, and fish... but also eat bread, oatmeal, and rice. WTF???